The present disclosure relates to semiconductor structures and, more particularly, to a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structure configured for low-distortion circuit applications.
Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) structures typically comprise a silicon substrate, an insulator layer (e.g., a buried oxide (BOX) layer) above the substrate, and a device layer (i.e., a silicon layer from which integrated circuit devices are formed) above the insulator layer. Such SOI structures offer a number of advantages over bulk silicon structures with respect to the formation of integrated circuit devices generally (e.g., reduction in parasitic capacitances, elimination of latch-up, better control of short channel effects, etc.). In many integrated circuits, such as radio frequency (RF) circuits fabricated on SOI substrates, performance of the circuit has not been as expected.
High frequency circuits built on SOI substrates, such as RF switches, tuners, and receivers, require very high linearity so as not to generate intermodulation products or harmonic distortion. Substrate contributions to total distortion can be substantial, and methods to suppress substrate effects are a significant technology enabler for semiconductor technology offerings built on SOI wafers.